1. Field of the Invention
The invention is generally related to the area of multimedia technologies in consumer electronics industry. More particularly, the invention is related to techniques for connecting various devices to a network for secure communications with a minimum of human interaction and technical ability.
2. The Background of Related Art
Consumer electronics devices that operate using wireless or wired Ethernet standards are often subject to the same complicated set-up process as a wireless computer network. Typically, the person who sets up the wireless network must have at least some knowledge about IP (Internet Protocol) networking and Ethernet (e.g., 802.3, 802.11), such as addressing, security, broadcast, unicast, etc. Such a skill requirement is generally acceptable for computer-to-computer networks, which is typically done by an IT professional. However, it is impractical to require average consumers to have such knowledge to hook up consumer electronic devices, such as home entertainment products that use wireless/wired Ethernet connectivity.
FIG. 5 shows an exemplary setting 500 for connecting a computer to a wireless network. The setting 500 is typically displayed when a user is ready to connect the computer to a wireless network so that the user can enter relevant information in the setting 500. Although the setting 500 requires very little information to make the computer connected to the network, the information is relatively technical to the average consumers. First, the user has to know what type of network the computer is going to be connected to. There are two choices 502, Access Point (infrastructure) and Computer-to-computer (Ad Hoc). The distinction between these two types of network is a common knowledge to the IT professionals yet can be a difficult question to the average consumers. Further even if the user knows the difference, there are more questions or options related to the security settings in 504, which evidently requires some good understanding about the network security over the wireless network.
For home entertainment products, there is a clear need to create simple methods of setting up and maintaining a secure wireless/wired in-home network with minimum human interventions.